How To Age Grays-Fully With Jin Cruce || WBWL Ep 55

Hey there!

I wanted to interview one of the best individuals in the world who truly embraces aging grays-fully, and that is Jin Cruce. She’s a 56 year old full time pharmacist and grandmother who defines health, wellness, and taking care of 'you.

This episode is loaded with health tips to improve strength, nutrition, sleep quality, mental health, and longevity. She is renowned on Instagram with over 750K followers and it’s a privilege to hear her life story and open about her struggles with motherhood in her younger days.

Check out the episode here, and reply here with any thoughts.

Transcript

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And ultimately what I talk about on this podcast is I like to talk about longevity. I like to talk about mental and physical health. Obviously I like to talk about anything health related so that you can live life more fully. I actually have the perfect person on this podcast today, and I'm just super excited because. When I actually landed onto her page, I was absolutely floored. I was absolutely wowed by not just her demeanor, but the way that she carries herself very positive, but also just. Making sure that she always like prioritizes herself or her physical health. She seems like she personifies what taking care of you actually means. I know a lot of people as they get older, they start to accept a life of, whether it's like disability, old age, wrinkles, gray hair. So I'm just very excited because it's somebody that hopefully will inspire many people just to think differently about how to take care of themselves. Her name is Jin Cruce. I believe I'm saying that correctly. Yeah. Cruce, so Jin Cruce and Jin thank you for being here. I love to introduce you and if you're okay, introducing yourself, tell people a little about yourself, what you do what kind of inspires you and I'm go from there. Okay. Hi. Thank you so much for having me. My name is Jin Cruce I am 56 years old. I'm a mother wife, grandmother. I started my Instagram page after I transitioned into my gray hair. And afterwards I decided, hey, you know what, if I can inspire other women, To who are on the fence about going gray or who's not really sure about going gray. I thought, I could inspire them and let them know, Hey, just because you're gray or because you're a certain age or, in your fifties, doesn't mean your life is over because I felt this zest for life. And I just wanted everybody else, empower other women to feel, Hey, your life isn't over just because you're 50 or just because you're gray hair. Awesome. That's such a great statement because I know that a lot of people, they. They start to worry about the gray hairs. I know that some of my friends even they have You know, the wives or the husbands, they're starting to develop some grays and it's peeping through the blacks or whatever. And a lot of times you're like, okay, I got to dye my hair or I got to do this. I got to do this. And it's like almost like they start to either hide, hide what's actually showing versus embracing things. And I really appreciate that about you. So I don't know, like what, can you explain a little bit more about not just what inspired you, but what was maybe like a turning moment for you? Was there something that said Hey. This is a time where I like, I really want to start, accepting who I am or start taking care of better care of my health. You mind just sharing a little bit about your background at that. Yes. I really, first of all, I got very tired of coloring my hair. It was like every two weeks. And, I tried for maybe a year to just color my hair. And I thought I would not color my hair. And I thought, and I would go for maybe a week or two. And I go, what was I thinking? I could never go gray. But then I think what the turning point was when I became a grandmother, I never expected to be, to become a grandmother. So when my daughter surprised us or, told us that she was expecting a baby. I was really shocked. It's like I wasn't even surprised. I was just shocked. And as a mom, when my girls were younger I worked a lot. So I wasn't very nurturing and I wasn't very emotionally available for them. And thinking about being a grandmother, I thought, you know what, I want to be more. To my grandkids, I don't want them to think, Oh, all I do is work, I want to be there for them, give them my quality attention, and so I think that's probably, like one of the, like the turning point of trying to take care of myself because I want to be there and I wanted them to think that I was the cool grandmother, I want to be out there playing with them, running around, that was very important to me. So I guess that's like the turning point. No yeah. I guess just turning 50 but then becoming a grandmother was a big thing. And yeah. Awesome. I think that that's a phrase that I always use is self care is not selfish, right? So a lot of times we're sacrificing every ounce of ourselves for the sake of other people. And another thing that I always talk about is what are our four pillars for four pillars of life? And just what, what kind of gives us purpose. So one is like our health, our physical, mental health. We'll definitely talk a lot more about that because I know that you can speak a lot of value to the, our audience about that, and then there is our wealth, so don't get me wrong. Like money's not everything, but it's something that we need in life. Our wealth, our financial wealth or health, and then we have our relationships. So that's something that you just talked about how you want it to be more emotionally available for your children, your grandchildren. But also, yeah, in terms of what motivates you likely part of is your family, and how you want to take care of yourself and then purpose, right? So it's having purpose. So if those four family health. Relation wealth as well as purpose, if those four things aren't clicking on all cylinders, then a lot of times our quality of life starts to suffer. So maybe we can just talk about that first and talk about your relationship. So what, what, what does being a grandmother mean to you? How do you feel like you've taken on that role? And how have things been going on in your own life? Oh, it's been great. I think it's like being a grandmother just really opened up my heart because I felt like I had a wall up as far as with my emotions. And so when I became a grandmother, it's like it just opened up and I just, I was like a little kid, playing with them and being curious and learning what they're learning. And so it was all new to me, and just being a grandmother, I didn't really get to be there for my daughters and it was a mother to them, like I wanted to. But at the time, that was what I, that was my purpose at the time. So I don't regret it, but at least, I can change where I go from here. I can change the way I, spend time with my grandkids and even with my daughters, they know that I've changed, that I'm a lot more emotionally available for them and Hey, I'm not perfect. But I do my best, I'm very mindful. of, what I do with them and the things that I say. Mindfulness is absolutely key, right? Because if I'm not being mindful, a lot of times we just let life just take us on a rollercoaster. And then before you know it, it's 10 years have passed by. But being mindful, present. One, one thing I say on my podcast, or I've said before is I have, so I'm not where you're at. So you have, grandchildren and a daughter. I'm 35. So I have like my newborn, she's only seven weeks old. I have my two and a half year old. So right now it's just like making sure that my business or my podcast and things like I'm very busy. We both have some sort of presence on social media. So we have to. Continue to inspire people and that's part of our, like our job, but at the same time, our job, our other job is also just being, a, an available or a, a subservient grandmother or mother, or like a father for myself, because, when we're not available again, life just passes us by when we're not embracing every moment, the first time that your granddaughter or son takes their first steps. And imagine if you were just on your phone, like filming something, right? And you're actually like there, the reason, I felt like I was on autopilot when I was younger, just doing what I needed to do, I really didn't have time to really think and reflect on life. But, I just feel like that was my journey then, and people can always change and I, I'm testament to that because people that knew me before, they're like, Oh, my gosh, you're not the same person, yeah. But yes, it's just like I said, autopilot before, but now it's From my 50s on, I feel like it's just like I've just came out of my shell. Yeah, absolutely. I see things in color, before it was black and white, but now I see everything in color. And I'm really just enjoying every moment and just being present. And I'm just really enjoying, my age, getting older, embracing, just being content with who I am. Yeah, everything's great. Everything, yeah. And just being positive. That's a big thing for me. Definitely. Everything's in color except what you accepted about your hair, right? It's just do you might, so if it's okay to share something personal because I think that it would be great to hear about just what it was like, like when you first had, your kids you being a mother, you being on autopilot what was your sense of I know your purpose was probably just to survive, it seems everyone's like everyone's on survival mode. So I'm in the same way. I'm very aware of it though. So like I take care of my health. I work out seven days a week. But in terms of your, in terms of how you felt did you feel any anxiety? Did you feel any sense of like depression or tension relative to where you were today? Because I think it'd be great if even like new moms, Or moms that are currently in the thick of things can hear your perspective on what it was like to be on autopilot and what was your sense of like, how you felt about yourself to be really honest, I don't think I really thought or felt, when I was younger being a mother, I think it was just, I was, like I said, I wasn't very emotionally available and and I guess the things that I did it. Yeah. Not through my emotions, but through my logically, and so I didn't really feel, I just did what I needed to do to survive. I couldn't. Like I said, my daughters would ask me, so how did you do, how did we do when you were trying to potty train us? And I would say, I don't know, maybe daycare took care of it. I have no, you know what I mean? Just stuff like that. I just, it's like a blur to me because at the time I was just working. That was my purpose. Just working all the time and not being available to, maybe to my kids. Got it. And I guess a sub question off of that is now that you're 56 years of age, you're a positive poly all the time and you're working out and you're really taking care of your health, your dogs, your daughters, granddaughters, you're being, you're honestly, I can't put you on a pedestal. So you're the model person because I think all of us are trying to be better every single day. We're trying to be better mentally, physically, spiritually, but. If you were to say at 56 years of age, and you were talking to yourself, when you first had your newborns and when you're on autopilot what would you, I wouldn't say reprimand, but what would you say to your younger self if you had to give them let's say one to three statements of advice. Just be more present. Just be aware of what's going on around you. Maybe love more. Show a lot more feelings and affection. Because, I grew up in a family where we didn't show affection. We didn't tell each other we love each other. However, I never felt unloved because we had roof over our head, food on the table. We had family. To me, that was love. Growing up with my girls, I didn't You know, I didn't give that to them, and I think my younger daughter probably needed that more than my older daughter. The emotional support. I think that's why me and her, we clash a little bit because maybe she felt like she didn't get the love from me that maybe she needed. But, I tell her, Hey, I loved you my way. Maybe you needed my emotional support more, but at the time I couldn't give it to her because I didn't know how, not that I didn't want to, but I didn't know how. Yeah. And I appreciate you telling me about that. And I think it's good for other people to hear because, we know that like gratitude and love, it, it does secrete certain hormones, specifically called oxytocin, something that can actually help with cellular aging, so like it actually has shown that the more you love, the more that you give gratitude. You actually age less, you age gracefully, exactly what you're personifying now. And also it just decreased his blood pressure, alleviates tension. So I, that's something that I've been practicing. I've been going with my wife, like what's no, we at the dinner table what's one favorite moment of the day and we just share it with each other. And then what's one person that you're grateful for either in this room or outside of the room and why. And the reason why it's just guys at the end of the day, no matter what went down that day, whether like we're. My wife had a tough time breastfeeding or let's say she's really stressed out because she got poor sleep. It's what can we be grateful for? And I think that it's really good that you're telling your younger self and other people around to just be more present to love more, to be grateful, to be present. Because again, you, if you want to age the right way or even have a greater perception of time, because all of us have, we're all ticking, ticking time. Oh yes. It's to enjoy life that much more when you're truly being present. And I think that's what you're doing. Nowadays, and it's so funny. My husband, he says something one day and it just made me think what, because to me, I don't think about my age. I still feel like I'm in my teens. I have all, I have lots of energy and I'm very curious. I'm going to learn, and he said, he's the type who worries about getting older. And so he said, Oh my gosh, I'm getting older. That means I'm getting close to dying. And so that worried him. And I just looked at him. I said, really? Because that's not something that I never think about. I just tried to be in the moment. Just have quality time be present. So to me, him worrying about getting older and dying, it was just Something that I never, I don't know, it was just something new how people can think so differently, different perspective, definitely. The worrying in itself causes part of the aging, right? The more you worry about dying, it's probably going to happen faster. Yeah. He's a worry, he worries, I always say, I'm very thankful for my husband because he worries for me because I don't worry. I just go with the flow. I don't worry. Hey. Yeah. If it happens, then, we'll deal with it and go on. But I don't see things as a problem, I see it as a challenge and I try to overcome it or take care of it. Yeah, I take some of that with you too. So like the way that I'm similar to you is I take on a challenge. Like I challenge my body physically. I challenge my body mentally. I'm always trying to get better. I'm in the same boat, as your husband, though, that I've told my wife I, I've a, one of my fears is dying early, and the reason why is just because, my, my dad passed in 2008, he died at, he died at 59, and so it was a really young age and so one of my missions was to really inspire other, parents and professionals, other people that are watching me so understand what the role, like how important it is to actually take care of your physical health. It almost like it almost instilled fear into me, but inspired my vision to help more people. And my wife is very similar to you. She's just if I were to die tomorrow, it's I lived a great life, and she just has that sense of it's a privilege to live. I'm not worried about, my fate, whatever it is, it happens. But what I can do is control every single day, be present every single day. So if let's say the worst were to happen tomorrow, I know that I had a good quality yesterday. Yes. That's how I see it too. Yeah. And that's awesome. I can definitely learn a little bit more about you or take some of your principles and instill it into my life, which I appreciate let's go into let's go into like just some of the things that obviously. With regards to people that are inspired by you, they're inspired for a reason is because, you, you have, you obviously have the gray hair, which personifies you, but also like you really take care of your health in so many different ways. You mind just sharing what are maybe like the top one to three things that you say really, that you really emphasize that you take care of, like your overall health, your wellness, your quality of life, exercise movement. Of course, that's like number one priority. And then eating. I don't believe I don't always eat healthy, but most of the time I try my best and I'm, I guess now I'm a lot more mindful of what I put in my mouth. Certain things that I may not like, but I know is better for me. So I might eat that. I'm just a lot more mindful of the things that I eat. So that's exercise. Food is very important because I think you are what you eat. It's very important that you really concentrate on what you're eating to healthy, more vegetables, fruit lots of water. I used to drink Mountain Dews all the time, when I was working before I, when you were on autopilot, I drank three or four Mountain Dews a day, just to give me energy to get going. I didn't always eat healthy, and even now I'll still go through drive thru, go to a hamburger drive thru and get me a hamburger and fries. Occasionally I'll do that. It's about creating a balance, too, in your life. It's not being extreme one way or the other, but just, with your health and exercise and food, it's about finding that right balance. Which, to me when you do, you have less stress. So I'll say exercise and I think sleep is so important, and even my sister tells me, I remember when I was even a teenager, there's five of us and I was one that would always say I got to go to sleep because I had to get my eight hours of sleep. And I remember I'll be the one getting up, getting ready. And. Screaming at everybody, get up because they stayed up late or whatever. But, I think sleep is very, because if I don't get enough sleep, I know I'm crankier, I can't think clearly my skin doesn't look good. It looks a little more aggier. There's so much benefit to getting enough sleep. Yeah. The recommended amount for sure. It's seven to nine hours. I. I've been pretty transparent myself about like the past 25 years of my life. I actually used to pride myself on getting no sleep, but still being able to function through the day. And that was really bad. So I was staying up till three in the morning playing video games, wake up at eight for school. And eventually it started to catch up. I started to notice my body just, it felt very tense. I was falling asleep at the road, which is not good. And the fact is my wife is like you, which is within she, she prioritizes her sleep. Granted, can she do that with a newborn right now? She's struggling a little bit, but sleep, I think super important, especially again, if you want your skin to look better, if you want to perform better with your workouts and if you want to feel less stress and less moody throughout the day, I think that all of it really matters. And it comes down to sleep because what is our most important tool for recovery? Recovery from anything. Yeah. Yeah. The nutrition side of things. It's great. So can, like you live in Alabama, I believe, right? Yeah. So in terms of that I don't know if there's certain like foods that you absolutely prioritize. So like you, you do vegetables, you do fruits. What is your diet look like right now? As far as like frequency what sort of foods do you really prioritize and you make sure that you get in? Yeah, I get a lot of questions, but I'm just, I don't, like I said, I'm not very extreme with my food either. I'm not, I don't ever put myself, I've never put myself on a diet. Because I think that's putting stress on yourself. I don't like, I like variety of food. What I like to do is eat three three meals a day. I have to have breakfast. I have to have lunch and supper and I try to make it simple, have protein carb, good carb and vegetables those three things that just make it simple, healthy and try not to eat, after maybe six o'clock, I don't want to eat past, seven that's important to me, so hard to do with with my kids, it's like they, they wake up, sometimes they wake up at five, three, six o'clock and incorporating. Fruits, but, trying to avoid any kind of processed foods, drinking lots of water. Like I said, I didn't do that before, you can, it's never too late to change your habits. It may be hard at the beginning, but if you know what you want and you know what you have to do, then I think you can do it. It's just it's a habit that you have to break. But yeah, like I said, it's a variety of food. I don't like to eat the same, how people will what is it? Make certain foods for the rest of the day. And it's the same thing. That would really be boring to me. I don't think I would like, cause I like different things, I want to enjoy my food. Yeah, for sure. I think people can definitely learn from you in terms of the, almost like the anti dieting approach, right? Because diets create a like way too much restriction to the point where eventually when you're off the diet, you binge after, so you end up just losing your results anyways you live a life where it's more. You enjoy your foods, you get a variety of things. You switch it up once in a while to the point where, but also at the same time, when you're switching it up and you're enjoying your foods, you're happy about the foods that you put in your mouth. You don't binge later. And you don't also like, you don't crave things after. So in some ways. Your body does adapt to a certain level of food that, that, that satiates us and makes us happy. People don't really think about that because again, like emotional eating. So when we're, what makes us happy is maybe like the Oreos and like the ice cream and eating all those things and maybe the occasional hamburger. But when you're guilty about it especially women women tend to get guilty when they eat the chocolate, they eat the ice cream. But if you just give yourself grace. And give yourself the unrelenting permission to have it when you want it, your body will in turn say to yourself I don't need to like, because I'm not restricting myself to it. I don't need to crave it later. So therefore, again, it's all about that balance. Yeah, because when you put a restriction on what you can eat then I feel like to me That's what I want to eat. If I tell myself, don't eat that, then that's the food that I want to eat. Yeah, I don't like to put any kind of restriction. Just being mindful and what brings me joy, I realized more than anything about food is when my plate is colorful, that brings me joy. Yes. Because I know that I'm eating something healthy. That's good for me. That's good for my body. Even at at work, a lot of the girls will say, Hey, this is what I made for supper, last night, here's a picture. And I'm like, but I don't see any color. Where's the color, and so now they said, whenever I cook, it's like, they hear me say, where's the color, and so they incorporate some kind of greens or something, but yes, I love to eat I love to make my plates very colorful that brings me joy. Yeah. And obviously you maintain a sense of like good physical shape as well. So obviously we, the food that we eat it's a product of the performance that we are with regards to exercise, right? Because if we're filling our body with just cookies and ice cream all day and we're not prioritizing like protein and whole foods then obviously then we tend to either hurt ourselves in the gym. We tend to hurt ourselves. Yeah, I don't have the energy. I don't have the strength sometimes if I don't because it's not about what you then it's about what you eat the day before. That affects how you perform the next day. And so it's very important to me. I can tell that if I don't eat the day before, then then my performance it suffers. Yes. Yeah, absolutely. And I don't know if you read the book intuitive eating, but I like to blend the science. Like I like more of a Westernized type of science approach. So my background as a doctor of physical therapy, also a strength coach is. really learning the science of what sorts of proteins are better than others. What sort of fruits are more important? What sort of type of micronutrients, but at the same time, I, there's a book called intuitive eating, that's almost talked exactly to what you're saying, which is really finding happiness and fulfillment in what you eat and what you cook. And also again, if you. Kind of are always looking at like the numbers all the time, right? You're always looking at let's say calorie counting. I do a little bit of that, but at the same time, if you don't really enjoy your food, and if you continue to restrict, And then again, you're just constantly on a 24 seven diet the rest of your life, where eventually 99 percent of people fail it because eventually you go on vacation, you start to binge, but you can still enjoy your colorful foods on a cruise on vacation, right? Because your diet really doesn't change on vacation. You don't let loose on vacation. the diet just stays consistent. And would you say that's accurate? Yes. And even if I, have a bad day, say the day before I really bad or say for breakfast, I ate something that was very bad for me or went through a drop through and got me a big biscuit, with a sausage or whatever, then instead of being mad or being hard on myself, what I would do is Hey, you know what, this is what I had for breakfast. I didn't do better. The rest of the day, so that's the mindset that I have if I, if I eat something bad for lunch, I'll make sure that I eat something very healthy and light for dinner. That's how I think, as far as eating, instead of being hard on myself or, binging, I just go, Hey, you know what? It's okay. Because we're not perfect. We're all human. So if I eat bad, then guess what? The next meal is going to be healthier. Yeah. And can, do you mind talking to those extremes? I have a perspective on that, but can you talk to those extremes of let's say somebody ate like a buffet, right? They go crazy. And then all of a sudden they're like, they feel really guilty about it. And then all of a sudden they go on like this, like just like huge juice cleanse where they starve themselves. But you're different. Like you're let me make like little steps. Can you talk to the extremes of what potentially a woman or a man, they tend to go through a lot of extremes, men and women, they're looking at magazines all the time, these really big, these people that glorify bodies, which is not it's not really realistic, it's photoshopped, but what can you say to those people that go through those extremes of like starvation, and then binging, right? How would you Even though you're not really coaching them, but you inspire people, how would you tell somebody that they're doing it? I get that. My coworkers, I've got several, I know this one lady, she will go on crazy diets. Hey, all I'm eating is just fruits today. All I'm eating is just like liquid diet. And I'm like, no, don't do that. That is so bad for you. It's about eating a balanced meal and not skipping meals. I'm, I don't, I'm all about eating breakfast, lunch, and supper. I have to have it. And so I encourage them, look, if you don't eat, sometimes they'll come to work and not eat. And then they're like so hungry, they'll end up binging on bag of chips, or candy. And I always try to tell them, no, don't go on those crazy extreme diets. It's bad. It's not good for you. It's about, just. eating, three meals, healthy meals, and I'm not skipping meals, so I try, there are several ladies that I work with who will go on those diets. And I just, try to encourage them. No, don't do it. It's not good for you. So the repercussions of starving yourself, especially on those liquid diets. It's like you're especially if you're trying to like You know, slave away at the cardio or do the exercise, man, your body absolutely suffers. Like you don't gain, you actually don't gain muscle. You lose a lot of muscle being on a liquid diet. Your skin starts to sag because you're not getting enough protein. And it's just so many things. Your skin starts to look different. You're showing up as a, like a half empty version of yourself. Going on those like really crazy diets. So I agree with you in terms of just having that balance. I'm also, again, my non negotiables are breakfast, lunch, dinner. It's a non negotiable for me, but at the same time, yeah. If I've, especially if I've eaten like a really large meal the day before I will try to say Hey, I'm going to be a little bit more mindful of eating a lighter dinner, just to maintain a good body weight, make sure my BMI doesn't go crazy. Yeah, and something else. What I'll do is like if I had like for Thanksgiving, if we eat too much or something else, I'll tell my husband, Hey, we need to go for a walk after we eat, instead of just sitting around. It's I feel so much better if I could just, it doesn't have to be a fast walk. It could be 15 to 30 minutes, just slow walk around the neighborhood and you feel so much better. Yeah the benefit we haven't even hit on that, but I bet. Yeah. I bet Alabama gets some good sun. I don't know where you live. Oh, it's very hot and humid here. Yeah. Yeah. Honestly I'm a San Franciscan. So whether 50 to 65 degrees all year round is our norm. Oh, that's perfect. Yeah. Yes. And that's why people move to the area because it's not extreme. But there are benefits again of just even a 10 to 15 minute walk. Albeit if it's sunny or superhuman. just getting a little bit of sunlight into your life. It alleviates mood. It converts some of your cholesterol into vitamin D, which then helps with with helps with like bone absorption. So actually getting light. Getting sunlight and going outside, not just alleviate mood, but it decreases your blood pressure, improves your blood lipid panels. And again, like if you don't get that in, you tend to be more lethargic. So like I, yeah how often would you say that you do get, outside of your kind of your fitness routine? How often would you say like you get outside or take breaks away from every day? Yeah, I'll get out every day. I love the sun. I love the outdoors. Of course, on the days that I have to work, I may not have time to go out, but if I, if I'm not working, I'm outside, not all the time, but I'll make sure I take the time to be outside for, 15, 20 minutes, whatever, if I have grandkids were out all the time playing, very nice. What's your take on just how, I guess if we can segue into like the fitness side of things, physical exercise you mentioned that first, we can talk about your kind of like the training that you do. I've seen you do some amazing things, right? Great mobility. I'm proud of you. I'm like, girl, like that's a good squat, right? Cause some people can't get that deep. snatches with barbells over your head. But at the same time I think one of my deep reasons why I work out so much is because, again, my, my story is given that I've had some tragedies in my family. Is that I take care, I really take care of my health so that I can do a lot of things with my kids. I can play with my kids for four hours in the playground and not have my back hurting at the end of the day. So what's your kind of take on like how, when you're with your grandkids or kids at the playground how does your fitness translate into a better quality of life or better, like just a better sense of overall wellness, the ability, the capacity to keep up with them? Oh, yes. Because you're over there, running around going up the what is it? Those GM, the stairs, the ladders. Yes. Just, everything, I'm not just saying they're just watching them. I am engaged. I am doing things with them, so that is very important to stay, healthy and fit and be able to move around and run around and keep up with them. That's very important to me. Yeah, for sure. What is what is your What is your fitness and training look like? I'm just curious because you see these occasional posts. Then you'll, you'll make a reel. So like the reels Oh yeah. You're showing the gray hairs. That's what's personifies you again. What does your training look like as far as like frequency? Do you have a coach or what do you do? No. I do CrossFit, and my daughter introduced me to CrossFit and she knew I liked to be active. And I really wasn't in, I never, I used to take occasional aerobics class or, do work out here and there, but I was never really. consistent with any workout. But I was always active even with my job. I'm on my feet 10 hours a day. So it's not like I'm sitting down. She told me about us. Oh, I don't know. But then when I finally went, it's like I was hooked. I just like the variety and it was something new to me because I never used to lift weights. So that was something, It intimidated me a little bit at the beginning because I'm like, Ooh, I don't know, but I loved it. It just gave me that adrenaline. It made me feel good. It wasn't just about the physical health. It was about your mental health as well, because I felt so much better, not just physically, but mentally as well. But yeah, I work out, depends on my work schedule, but usually between three to four, sometimes five times a week. It just depends. And, CrossFit, sometimes you do, work out with weights, it's cardio it's body weight. And the way I've progressed, you should see me in at the very beginning. I wasn't even able to lift like 65 pounds or, whatever, but I've come a far, long way. And I'm very proud of where I am and I'm still learning, I don't know how to do everything. So I will modify and I don't mind modifying. It doesn't bother me. Because I still get a good workout, and yeah, so three to four or five times a week just depends and I'm not hard on myself, but it's at 815. It's very important to have that routine. And so I'll go at 815 class. And and do my workout and that way I have the whole day to do whatever and feel good about, what you did, you've already got something out of the way, you took care of yourself and then you have the rest of the day to do, enjoy it or do whatever you do. I love it. And obviously the our pages are similar in the fact that we both do like we, one of the things about our health is we pick up a barbell and we lift it up and down, like that. That's to me, barbell and dumbbell training. It is actually the ultimate medicine for people over the age of, even for people in their twenties and thirties, right? If they start good habits, then it's just much easier into their thirties, forties, and fifties. You preserve more muscle mass as you get older as well. So for you, considering that. You started, when did you start CrossFit or start weight training? I was 47 when I started CrossFit and I think, I really do believe that starting CrossFit and building muscles has really helped me also I guess transition into like menopause because I haven't had any kind of symptoms. Severe symptoms. Yeah. No, I haven't had any noticeable symptoms. I'm not on, I've always said, I'll probably own a hormone, like my mom, she had very severe symptoms. So she was on hormones for a very long time. So I just thought, Oh, okay. When I get older, I guess I'll just have to be on hormones too. So I'm not against it, but how was her exercise? What do you feel like, do you feel her, what was her sense of habits around exercise? She was very active. She had her own garden. She had her flower garden and even now she's 85 and but she's very strong, we can do arm wrestles and she can still, win because she's very strong. But yeah, she's she was very active. She was very active. But yeah, she did have severe like hot flashes and stuff like that. So she had to be put on hormones. Got it. Yeah. I find that there is I want to maybe do the research and that and maybe touch base with you on another time. But I'm curious to see how weight training just helps so many things. For one, there's a study that shows that consistent weight training over somebody's life actually decreases your chance of dying of anything by 32%. That's incredible. It's called all cause mortality. So I do find that, maybe there's just a correlation for you. But when you went through menopause, And How weight training can help with the symptoms or lack of symptoms that you're currently are. Cause if not for weight training the past nine years do you feel like it might've been different? Yes, I think so. I think so. I might have, started having hot flashes. I'm not sure, but I think it made a big difference. And the age, where you're supposed to have, go through menopause. No I feel so much better about who I am. Like I said, I feel like I'm still in my teens. I feel great. I have zest for life. I've just so much positivity in this world. Just around, you have to be positive, and it just makes the day go better. It's just home for the day, so yeah just going like relating back to like your CrossFit. I assume you, it seems like you go to a gym for that. What is the importance of just, I had a couple of words. Cause like when you were saying things, community and consistency, two Cs, right? So what do you feel is the importance of being in a community specifically for exercise? And then what is the importance of kind of like consistency and always being able to show up? Community because you are there. It's like a family, you motivate one another. You And you have fun. That's just as important too. It's not just about working out. But it's about having that relationship, and having fun and just supporting one another and being there for one another. That's a big, that's a big thing too. It's not just about going over there, working out, do your thing and come back, because it just, your life just means so much more. When you have. community and people that you can get to work out, together. So that's very important. Yes. And then what can you talk a little bit about like just the consistency aspects? Cause you know, again, the, is it just to tell you the statistics, it's like 85 percent of Americans do not have a gym membership. And then amongst the 15 percent that have gym membership. Did you know that 50 percent actually don't use your gym membership, right? So they're just like they're just like paying whatever it's 30 to 50 dollars a month but they're actually not even going so they're just like oh yeah I see that a lot too consistency and I think the reason that is very important but I think what made it So much better for me. I only live like a mile from my gym. And so that's nice. So I think you run there finding some, I can actually run there or walk there, right? So finding a place that's close to you, that's accessible, easily accessible, that thing that is very important to, because if I had to drive 30 minutes out of the way to go to a gym, maybe I may not go as, as much, or maybe as consistent as I should be, I have no excuse. But consistency, you have to, some days are going to be better than others. Main thing is consistency and not giving up, just anything in life. Just don't give up. Some things are going to be hard. Some days are harder than others, but it's about just keep going, doing this for you, it's about simple. The men's, the you're spot on with something that I teach to my clients is actually habits, and habits there's laws of habits. One is make it easy. So if you can. If you're running shoes are in the closet and it's like way up high in the closet. The likelihood is it's out of sight. It's out of mind and it's hard to get there But if you put your running shoes right by the stairs, you're gonna walk by the stairs I'm like, oh I should put these on. Another thing that you said is, one mile away, right? There's so many of my clients that have you know they have some sort of inconsistency when they first start off Because their gym is 20 minutes away or they're stuck in traffic to get there So either one you do something like gin which is have the gym one mile away. So there's really not a lot of excuses or two home gyms are very accessible nowadays, right? People are buying dumbbells and squat rack for their home. And that's exactly what I have in my house, my whole garage. It's a flat out, like a full gym. And so I have no excuse. I just walked downstairs. If my baby starts screaming, I can hear them from upstairs and I can just go straight back up. And then I guess the last part of habits is like laws of just in general, like convenience. So the less resistance you can make towards doing something, the easier it is to move unwanted ones, right? If you had a bad habit with watching TV. Dude, try taking the batteries out of the remote and put the batteries in a closet and then put the remote somewhere else. Like you will watch way less TV doing so. Oh, yes. It's like my husband, he wants to move to our lake house, which is like 30 minutes from everything, and I said, I said that would be nice to move somewhere where there's, water all year long. And it's just really nice scenery. But I said, it is not convenient for me. That means I won't be able to go work out, in grocery stores too far away. I'm all about. And so I said, right now, no, I don't see that in my, near future, it would be a place to go maybe on the weekends, but it's not someplace that I will live because right now I'm all about connecting with people, about interacting, about, things being accessible. So I think that's very important to me where I am right now, because used to before I was very non sociable either, it's hey, I don't need to, I can't really tell. Are you sure about that? Huh? I really can't even tell. You're, they're the point in your life where you're non sociable? Oh no, it's hey, I didn't have a lot of friends, which I, that was fine with me too, but social settings really made me very nervous. My husband was the one that was more sociable, so I just followed along, but it's like our roles have switched and I'm the one that Talking and engaging and interacting with people more. And he's who are you? But I just think, I feel like there's so much to tell, so much to learn, so much to, I love hearing people's stories, and what they're about because I feel like for so long I've been. Just behind the scenes and, just doing my own thing and just working all the time and not really reflecting on things. And so right now I feel like I just came out of shale and I'm just, there's just so much to, so much, there to do for, as far as life. I'm just very excited. Yeah. And that's why ultimately I have you here because the fact is even just this 40 minutes of us talking you've hit on such great points. One is like the actual things that you have to do namely think about, you, you mentioned sleep, you mentioned the nutrition, having colorful foods, you mentioned the role of weight training community, but you also mentioned a couple more holistic things that I think people really didn't get from, and I want to say it out loud. One is you really reflect. You really reflect on what, what your day to day looks like, what your life had to look like to them having gratitude now. And then also awareness. I think you're somebody that actually is very aware of what you eat, what you do you're very aware of just the community around you having fulfillment in that just being more present. So I think that reflection and awareness, that's something that even at age 35, again, you are my senior and I'm still learning stuff on this podcast as we're talking right now. Hey, look, even before the age of 50, right? Like 50 I was like, I didn't, I wasn't, I didn't think like I am doing right now before then it was all about. I don't even think I really, somebody said one time, I bet you're a deep thinker and I don't know if that just made me start thinking, but I said, no, I really don't think, I just go with the flow, do whatever I need to do right then. So I don't know if that was something that made me, Hey, wait a minute. I am not a deep thinker, but I don't know. It's just changed everything. Yeah, again just being able to reflect on past circumstances or the things that we did not having really necessarily regrets for it, but just. Being able to embrace the fact that we're all just trying to be better versions of ourselves, I think that's just so important. And the awareness one thing that I always say to my clients, especially cause that back in the day jobs used to be just very blue collar. It was all about just construction work, much less computers, much less smartphones. Now you've seen the transition where people are. sitting on their butt eight to ten hours a day. That's the majority of people at a computer. I think it's a slow kind of like decaying environment where if we're not really prioritizing your health and other aspects. This, all the constant sitting, all the constant sitting at the computer will eventually weigh on your health the long term. But yeah and I think my husband was really shocked because, I always work 40 hour week for 30 something years. I've been with the same company for a very long time, and I've worked 40 hours. And, I guess my husband, I love my job and my husband always thought that's what I was going to do as long as I could. I've decided, Hey, you know what? Life is too short. I've got grandkids, I've got different priorities, things change. And so I just told him one day, Hey, look, I'm coming back. And that really shocked him, because he thought I was always gonna be the one working 40 hour weeks, just working all the time. But I said, you know what, to me now there's so much more to life than work and money. You gotta be content with where you are. And And I work less, my, I feel like my life is so much busier too. It's just more it's more, it's quality life, it gets filled with other things that actually fulfill you. Yes. Yes. When you cut back, when you talk about so many people in the world that are driven by money, driven by finances, they get very almost like scared or depressed or anxious when they see that there's not much left in the account. Yeah. What, tell me a little bit about maybe like your, kinda like your relationship. Everyone has a relationship with finance, whether they like it or not bad or good. What's your kind of relationship with finance? And how does, do you feel like, is, do you feel like there's any form of like certain stresses that you put towards it? Do you think otherwise and think what's your kind of take on the overall relationship there? I always tell people I come from a very humble beginning. But I never realized that I didn't have a lot of things that other people might have, I didn't have the best car, like when I turned 16, my father bought this old station wagon that I drove, but I was thankful for that. So I didn't grow up thinking, Oh, why can't I have that? Or why can't I have this? So I was very happy. with where I was, whereas, my husband, he owns his own business. So he's always trying to find ways to make extra money, and so he ended up just doing the side job opened up a side business, but it was creating a lot more stress, to him because he had his regular job plus the side job. I told him, I said, it's not about money. It's not about. We've got, we're, we're not rich by no means, but we are comfortable. And so I said, it's not worth it for your stress and headache. So I said, I think you're making a good financial decision by closing it down. But, I tell them all the time, hey, it's not, life isn't about money all the time. It's about having that quality of life that, less stress. Yes, I think just because I grew up, from a very humble beginning, I think. And I never felt like I lacked anything as far as material things. So I don't know. I'm not so driven by money, yeah. Yeah. I'll tell you a little about my background too, just so people can get two kind of different views. But I grew up in San Francisco, likely top five most expensive city in the world. My dad, we I didn't really have humble beginnings. We actually had everything that we needed. I learned how to drive on a Mercedes Benz. And then and then my dad got me a new car. My dad got me a new car. So for me, I didn't really worry that much about money. And even when I like started my. Flex with Dr. J, I was like doing it for the purpose of I really wanted to inspire more people to be healthier. And there was a point where I was like, yes, I need to get the business off the ground. So I need to worry about the finances, right? Just to eventually build something. But then at some point I started to take on a more, a different perspective, exactly like you are, where, why worry about money when there's nobody that's going to be on their deathbed being like, I wish I made that million dollars, right? You're going to be on your deathbed. Saying to yourself, did I spend enough time with family? Did I really be grateful for all the memories that I had? Also at the same time, there's something called experiential spending versus versus I think it's called tangible spending. So tangible spending is basically where you really value the Louis Vuitton purse. You really value things that you can feel versus. Again, spending time, spending that money, going to Disneyland, going to Disney World, spending that money on seeing your grandkid eat ice cream for the first time. Yes. To me, like, when you're on your deathbed, are you really going to be like, man, I wish I bought more purses? I wish I bought that car. Or are you going to be like, I wish I spent more of my time, my money, my finances on things that made my life more fulfilling? And so for me, that kind of gets me emotional in that sense. To be able to think like why we're about finances when it's all about our quality of health our life, our purpose. And that's what you're going to be thinking about when life eventually is over for all of us. What are you going to be thinking about? You're gonna be thinking about family. You're gonna be thinking about all the good times. Yeah, because I think about, my father, he, when we came over here from Korea in 78 and, they worked hard, they worked at a chicken plant, cutting up chicken, packaging it. And, he's always told us, Hey, make sure, you go to college, make something of yourself because you don't want to work like us. But he loved movies. He loved James Bond movies. He loved that. But he worked all the time. And so that's something that Think about, I wish, why didn't I take him to the movies, you didn't have to be, often a lot, many times, but, at least once or twice, at least take him, because he worked all the time. So yeah. And I don't know. Yeah. You think about the time that you didn't have with somebody. Yeah, and then I tell my husband too, it's look, you can't take that money with you if you die. So why worry about, making extra money? We have enough. Yeah. Do you ever think in terms of that? Like I have maybe a little story to tell, but do you ever think about when you do reflect and you're more aware you're definitely more aware at 50, 60 degrees than you were like when you were on autopilot, but do you ever reflect on having any sort of. Whether it's like regrets or things that you could have done differently when you were like in your thirties, or let's say people that are currently at my age. 25 to 40, right? Do you ever have any regrets about the things that you could have done or any of that? Or do you just live life? Been asked that question. I've thought about it too. And I said, I don't have any regrets because at the time I was so focused on what I, Needed to do, work, make, money, take care of family that even if somebody did come to me and told me those things, I don't know if I would have taken that if I would have accepted their advice, I don't know, because I think you have to be ready to, accept people telling you, giving you advice, but if you're not there, then, they can say whatever they want to, but if you don't, If you're not ready to take it, that I don't know, would you really, but so no, I don't have any regrets. I did say I have one regret and it's because I was so busy, we didn't get to sit down as a family and eat together. You will not believe this, but we used to eat out all the time and I still do eat out a lot now because it's me and my husband, but we make better choices. We make better choices. Yeah. So that's one thing that I wish that I had instilled healthier habits. my daughters, just sit around eating together as a family. So that's very, yeah, that's one thing that I regret, I'm not hard on myself. Hey, that's who I was then. Hey, you can make, you can be different from now on, going forward. Yeah, that's the thing. But as far as. how I was or what I could have changed now. No, no regrets. Yeah. And I think it's just a great reminder. I'm really happy that you told me that, and the fact is like that you're telling people now Hey, that was maybe your one regret. And that's actually something over the past. That I've really instilled being more present at the dinner table. So I kid you not like you saying that is exactly what I've been thinking about the past four weeks. So four weeks ago, I was like, I was like looking at like my business stuff. I was like checking my finances and checking other things like at the dinner table and my kid would actually notice it. My kid would be like, Hey. Daddy, like he wouldn't say get off your phone. He didn't have that type of, but he can feel like, Oh dad, can I get a phone too? So he's worried about Oh, can I watch a show? Or can I do that? And then what me and my wife said is like, Hey, why don't we try to limit? I have the dinner table just be us for my kids sleeping, my other kids sleeping, but us for phone free, just talking with each other and my son just immediately. We thought oh he's addicted to phones, but realistically he really just wants like our attention. So when we're talking and we're like em embracing him and we're like making faces at him, it just makes every single day feel that much better. And we are, again, I talked about how we end the day with gratitude. We asked what's our favorite moments. It's kinda like a non-negotiable now. So I just, again, I appreciate the fact that you're telling me that'cause that's something that I've really been focusing on. No, because whenever I have the grandkids over, say for the weekend or whatever. I do not look at my phone. So even though I have social media, that's something that I just put away. That's why I don't do a lot. I don't really collaborate with a lot of people because I enjoy what I'm doing but I don't want it to be like a job that I have to do. And and I don't want to, I don't want my social media to take over my life either. So yeah, whenever they're with me, I put my phone away because I want to give them my quality, my one and one undivided attention. That's very important to me. Yeah, so important. I know that we both have, we both have social media. We both have at least a few hundred posts. So we spent time there. No, no doubt about that. But for a specific purpose, obviously, but I think we both are in agreement with what's really more important. And I'm, I'm inspiring people to move more, but also I really value my family time. So do I pick the post I picked the post that I could have posted or do I pick the time that I could have just been 15 minutes? Getting on the floor and roughhousing with my kids so much, so much more important, than, what people's like perception of importance is, which is it's about social media. It's about scrolling mindlessly across. And I look at it as if if a paparazzi or somebody were following me. Would they want to see me like on social media, just scrolling for two hours, just following my stuff or would they want to see me like maybe taking care of my health? Spending more time with family. I think about that. If a cameraman were on me at all times, would I be proud of myself for like the things that I'm doing? Yeah. I think it's all about finding that balance, with your workout, with your food, with your family and social media, it's about finding that balance and just managing stress. That's very important to, But finding that ba right balance and just be present. Yep. I guess just ma making sure that'cause one thing that I really know about you is you like to have fun. Realistically you Oh yeah. You look like a person that just has so much spice for life and, as far as just, two F's, like fun and fulfillment, like how. Just how important is that for you, for your overall quality of life, wellness, health in general? It's very, fulfillment, is very important. But, just every day, just have fun every day. Even when I go to work, it could be busy, it could be, there's so much stress in our jobs. But, I try to be very positive. Because as a leader, because I, as a pharmacist, I'm the leader for that day, if I'm the only one there, I have to set the tone for the day and since we're gonna be there together for 10 hours more than, you would spend with your family, why not have fun? Why not be positive? Why not? And yes. Fun and fulfillment and enjoy what you're doing, like my job, helping others or just, inspiring my coworkers or, whatever, so fun and fulfillment. It's very important. Yeah. In terms of the quality of life type of thing in regards to your job. I know there's a lot of people out there that, they don't enjoy their job. They regret it, or they have a boss that kind of breeze down to throw it all day. I, thankfully, I thank God for just having a job. That's just so damn fulfilling. To be able to see my clients, get stronger, feel better to be able to do things that they couldn't do. Like they couldn't pick up the kids and now they can because of strength training that obviously is just very fulfilling for me. I know that for my advice for people that maybe you don't have a job. Let's say you don't enjoy it as much is to still find fulfillment in giving value to your coworkers and to embrace different parts of your life. Maybe you don't say, like I get to work with clients or something, but to find just certain fulfillment and joy and what you do, and maybe you're saying to yourself I do this job so that I can provide for my family and find fulfillment there. I can create more experience with them. I think it's just, again, it's all about perspective. I get inspired too because I get to see a lot of older people in their 60s and 70s and 80s. A lot of times I'll go, if I see somebody who's, so positive and have zest for life, I'm like, what is your secret? Because I want to learn too. And so I get to engage with them, or their help. Pick out a cough, cold medicine, just something. So I get a lot of fulfillment out of work, and even though, like I said, some days are rough, I'm always thankful that I have a job. Yeah. For sure. This was a preset question, but it's like one of my last ones is what amongst the many things that you have given just so much value. I like, I feel like this is one of the absolute best interviews I could have done in terms of like how you look like. And such a natural to do it's Oh, you don't do this often. But here's a question. What secrets are like, what secrets or hidden tips? Have you not shared like what's something that, that Jim Cruz specifically does that allows you to live more gracefully, right? Oh, gosh, I don't know. I try to tell people, I try to show them what I know or tell them what I know. Because, I feel really good about where I am and how I view life and I want other people to see it too and feel it. Again, sleep, get enough sleep. Self care, that's so important. Because if you don't love yourself, how can you love anybody else or take care of anybody else? So self love of course movement. So there's really no secret. I try not to keep any secrets if I can. I was just asking just in case you had Hey, I have this secret, thing that I get from the pharmacy. I'm just kidding. But I do take multivitamins. I do take some supplements. There you go. B complex would see, vitamin D, vitamin E, calcium. So that's, I don't know if it's helping, but I take it every day. So absolutely cool. I think that we have that same viewpoint on just living holistically and taking care of the basics, right? Sleep, nutrition, exercise, fun, fulfillment, awareness, reflection. Gosh, I can go on for days in terms of the many topics that we've talked about in order to just age more gracefully. And I think, again I value your time because you really define what it means to like age gracefully. And I know a lot of people are worried about that. So for the fact is you're living it, you're living proof of it that you know, you can accept your gray hairs, you can accept aging you can still live life. You don't have to have the worries of, aging poorly and again, not having regrets, right? Just having a lot more purpose and spice for life. I think that's just something that I think I can take from you. And I know a lot of people will take from that as well. And have grace. That's something that I really had to learn to have grace. It's okay. Don't be hard on yourself. Nobody's perfect. You're going to have some good days, bad days. You may eat bad one day. Not, maybe you may not exercise for maybe a week, but that's okay. Have some grapes and then start back, just because you missed a week or, ate bad doesn't mean that you're going to just start eating bad or not working out anymore. So just have grace. I think that's very important. I had to learn that too. Absolutely. And yeah, and give grace to others as well. Yes, and so anyways Jen it's been a thrill just speaking to you. I know that I've learned a lot. I know that a lot of people elsewhere can learn a lot. I think that's some things I'm going to take from you is definitely. Not being as worried about, dying or anything. I think that's something that I want to work on. Other things are just creating more colorful foods on my plate. I think that's something really important. And fitness, I think that I, that's like a 10 on my box. I do that seven days a week at all costs, but yeah, just being more fulfilled. Like when I become a grandparent, I hope to. Have the same kind of zest for life and still being able to like, Roughhouse with the kids and not be sidelined by my body, right? But instead just Yeah be involved Exactly. Be involved for sure. Jin, if people wanted to just learn more about you and your story and just, or maybe just to be inspired by you every single day, where do you feel like they can find you? The only social media that I have is Instagram and it's aging with style and grace. I don't, I've never had Facebook. I don't have the other ones, but yeah, I have Instagram aging with style and grace. Love it. Love it. Love it. And I'll continue to follow, I'll continue to be inspired, I hope to continue to comment, and also just continue to keep in touch. I think this was just an absolute just slam dunk in terms of the connection and our values and the way that we live life. And I'm 35 years of age, but still I hope that when I'm 56, even beyond, if I have gray hairs, I will accept them. I will not dye my hair. I know I'm like, I'm even thinking Oh, do I want to have the gray hair? But even for me I think that if I ever have that, like I will accept it with certainty. But again, I value your time, Jin. And I thank you so much for sharing just everything that you are, everything that you've told our audience. And I hope again to just be keeping in touch, potentially, do more episodes in the future, but this was just an awesome episode to do. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. Yeah, absolutely. All right, guys, take care and have a beautiful rest of your day.